"And the helpful word that was (not) spoken too late"

Rabbi Melanie Aron

October 26, 2002

There is much to be said for doing things promptly and facing changes boldly. Pirke Avot urges us to be diligent, to rush to perform even a minor commandment. Similarly, it is a custom even today, to have brises early in the morning, to show that we are not trying to delay in our fulfillment of this mitzvah. When making changes in our personal lives, the rabbis urge that we not drag it out but go cold turkey, renouncing past errors in a complete way, and looking only forward. As Hillel taught, " If not now, when?"

But that is not necessarily human nature. Even when we know that we will eventually have to do some task, still we often procrastinate and put off to tomorrow that which can be done today. Sometimes we hesitate, for a variety of reasons, and only afterwards think of what we should have done. Also, when trying to make changes in our own lives, we often find the pull of the past to be powerful. Our good intentions are often undermined, by our slipping into older patterns of doing things.

In this week's Torah portion, we have one of the great procrastinators of all times, Lot. Two angels come to warn Lot of the impending destruction of his city, and still he lingers. The sun sets, darkness comes, and then the dawn breaks, and still Lot has not left. "Get moving," the angels say to him, but still he hesitates. Finally they must grab him by the hand and physically lead him out of town, practically pushing him up the hills.

Trying to understand Lot better, our sages have focused on the word the Torah chooses to describe his inaction, "he lingered" we are told, "vayitmamah", a word underscored in the Hebrew by the use of the pazer, an unusual and ornate cantillation. The word comes from a root meaning to walk slowly or to delay. We find it in the psalms where we are advised that a good person does not delay in keeping God's commandments.

This word is also used in Biblical narratives. When Jacob hesitates to send his sons, including Benjamin back to Egypt to get supplies, Judah tells his father Jacob, had we not delayed we could have gone down to Egypt and been back already with provisions. The medieval commentators try to explain the reason for Lot's failure to leave the city promptly. Rashi says that it relates to his property. Lot had become a very wealthy man in Sodom. Why couldn't he move on? He was still attached to his physical possessions.

Sforno says the problem was laziness and confusion. Lot was not a man who in general reacted quickly, and besides much had changed in a very short time. Lot wasn't able to sort out the significance of the events taking place around him fast enough to react promptly.

Ibn Ezra, more sympathetic to Lot, attributes his delay to fear. He understood was about to happen and the thought of the coming destruction overwhelmed him. He was paralyzed by fear and by his inability to convince his married daughters to join him.

When we want to move on in our lives, we often find it is not so easy. While we want change in some ways, we know that change will disturb other aspects of the status quo with which we have become comfortable. Risks to our material prosperity are certainly one obstacle to change but often confusion and fear operate just as significantly. Sometimes we are just slow to respond- only afterwards does it become clear to us what we should have done.

The counter example in our text is Abraham. God shares with Abraham his plan: "I will descend and see. Have they done everything implied in the outcry that is coming before Me? If not, I will know.

The angels turn away and journey towards Sodom, but Abraham comes forward to speak. He does not allow the moment to go by, does not allow the window of opportunity to close.

As we read in the liturgy of Shabbat Shuvah: "Three things there are that will never come back, the arrow shot forth on its destined track, the appointed hour that could not wait, and the helpful word that was spoken too late."